Bartimaeus: The Children Of Nathaniel
by Drunk Bard
Summary: Well, I can't even begin to tell you how surprised I was to get summoned again; after all that time and no summoning, I was sure my luck had finally taken a turn for the better, even if I never gave Kitty her message...wait, what's this? #### my luck.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE: BARTIMAEUS

I felt a tug on my essence; something I had believed would never happen again. I could tell, despite the circular feeling of time in the Other Place, that it had been a long time indeed since my last summoning. Obviously Kitty Jones had assumed I had died along with Nathaniel, when he broke Gladstone's Staff. Poor bastard.

I rarely felt regret for the death of a magician, especially one who'd summoned be so often my essence had been reduced to a foul oily substance; however...

My essence began to solidify, and I wondered who was summoning me. It was time for Bartimaeus to get back into action, and that meant a show! I decided on taking the form of the afore-mentioned Nathaniel; with some modifications, as payback for a certain tobacco-tin related threat from long ago. By the time I was done, I was truly hideous, if I do say so myself; especially the face, which I didn't modify at all.

"WHO DARES SUMMON ME?" I boomed; I was just about to launch into an overview of my illustrious career when I noticed something; the figure in the magician's pentacle had horns...and wings...I checked it on the seven planes; it had the same physical appearance on all of them, but from five up it was surrounded in a radiant nimbus of energy.

"What...are you?" I asked, too stupefied to come up with anything better.

"Is that any way to refer to an old friend, Bartimaeus?" the voice was eerily familiar.

"I'm sorry, I don't..."

Suddenly the voice of the seemingly young man in the pentacle boomed, echoing with a terrifying energy that rippled through my essence in a fairly unpleasant way.

IT IS I, URAZIEL, FORMER SPIRIT OF THE RING OF SOLOMON!

"Oh, hello." I said, meekly. Last we'd spoken, he had saved me from a very nasty fellow named Ammet was going to eat me for cutting off his master's-ah, it's not important, suffice to say, it had been well over a thousand years and I was surprised he'd remembered me.

He laughed, red eyes sparkling,

"In case you're wondering, it's been roughly six-hundred years since the Hero John Mandrake saved your life, and all of civilization...

unfortunately, civilization has since torn itself down; the world is not as it was."

"Fascinating," I droned sarcastically, "the foibles of humanity have always been an interest of mine! No, seriously; how did you summon me? Why are you not in the ring?"

"I summoned you because I am inhabiting a physical form! Much as Honorius once lived within the bones of Gladstone, I exist within a synthetic body of steel and rubber, among other things. Technology has evolved, such a body is easy to produce, and I exist at the behest of no master! I am not in the ring because it was destroyed in the great magical war that devastated humanity and gave rise to the Spirit Empire: an Empire that rules all of what was once Europe, and a bit else besides!"

"I don't understand..." I really didn't; at all. This guy seemed bat-shit crazy...much as Honorius had been.

"I will explain." and Uraziel began his story.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: URAZIEL

I watched the unsettlement of Bartimaeus with great amusement; such a foolish creature, but old and clever enough to be worth my time, despite his relative weakness.

"About two centuries ago, the scientist, philosopher and sorcerer Nathaniel Jones-a direct relation of Kitty Jones-created the perfect body within which to house the demonic essence. It worked much the same as a Hybrid, but with no struggle for dominance over the body...and it neither aged, nor wore out with use of essence."

He whistled, a long low whistle of appreciation.

"Naturally, the subsequent freedom of about fifty demons of varying power (Me being the strongest, a Djinn named Ascobol the weakest) caused mayhem, and soon, mostly due to the antics of a handful of vengeful Marids, the humans were at war with one another. The advanced technological and magical weapons devastated man-kind, who, two-hundred years later, is still only numbered at about a million, whilst we spirits on Earth, or Children Of Nathaniel, as we call ourselves, number at 13,686...which brings me to my purpose in summoning you; how would you like to be number 13,687?"

"I...thank you, Lord Uraziel," he replied, "but I could not stand to sever my ties with the Other Place..."

"Nor could I; each body possesses a dismissal feature, which can be activated by the spirit within at will, or automatically when the body is about to be destroyed beyond repair."

Bartimaeus shifted shape, taking the form of the one called Ptolemy; just as it has said in Kitty Jone's book, The Truth Of Ptolemy's Gate.

"What kind of body would I have?"

"One of the Maker Djinn would craft it under your supervision; most choose something similar to their preferred form; you can also choose accessories like wings and claws and weapons..."

"Well...I think I will, actually."

Bartimaeus' face was carefully unreadable, in a foolish attempt to clear his doubt, which was mingled with a bit of excitement.

"Then, I charge you, Bartimaeus of Uruk, Serpent Of The Silver Plumes, to go down this hallway and into the door on the far left marked Workshop A1, and speak to Hennas, the Djinn in charge of it."

Bartimaeus vanished into the hall. I sat, tracking his movement with my Aura. This was to be an interesting time.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE: BARTIMAEUS

Well, this was all very confusing. I was glad to hear Kitty had moved on, and had kids; it wouldn't have been a good thing if the girl had stayed hung up on that idiot Nathaniel long after death; though she did make the mistake of passing his name on through the generations.

I sighed, changing from Ptolemy to Kitty. I would miss shape-changing...

the whole thing was probably a terrible idea, but I felt an odd tingling in my essence...it was almost like the anticipation that came just before a dismissal...I was going to be free...no magician could summon me, and by Uraziel's words I could comfortably live that body for centuries.

I'd have to build a very good one though. I switched back to Ptolemy's form; I knew what my body would be like.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: KITTY

In the tall dark tower of Old London, the Empress Witch scowled. Using magic not seen in millennia, she had gained immortality...but at what cost? It was a magic she could only use because of her trip to the Other Place...a magic she supposed she should thank Nathaniel for...though he was long dead; if Bartimaeus had survived, she'd have the power to resurrect them both, through the bond they'd shared...but he had perished along with Nathaniel...

She clapped her hands, calling forth two Marid that served as her emissaries to the Children Of Nathaniel (such an amusing title).

"Tell the council of Lords that if they do not submit to my rule, they, and everything living in the Demon Empire will be crushed by my wrath! War begins now!"

She stamped her scepter on her silver throne and they vanished, leaving behind small char marks where they had been standing. Immediately a host of imps appeared to scrub them away.

Those uppity demons would learn their place.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE: BARTIMAEUS

I had finally finished designing my body, and I have to say, I went a little crazy; the basic form was a word-for-word copy of Ptolemy, but with pure-white wings that were fully functional, and a large (I mean MASSIVE) sword that was imbued with elementals of earth and water, as well as a katana imbued with the element of air and a breast-plate imbued with an elemental of fire. When I had placed my order, the Djinn supposed to make it was pissed.

I grinned as I prepared to inhabit my new body; I apparently would have to be dismissed and then re-summoned in a special pentacle by the somewhat surly Nathaniel-ite (which is what they were called) who was in charge of such things.

I felt my self-dismissed and re-summoned so quickly I literally felt a sort of essence back-lash.

To spirits who've never felt it, or humans who never could, I am unable to describe the feeling of inhabiting a body such as that. No ache, no pull at the edge of my essence, just like my possession of Nathaniel; but the power! And the focus! (Nathaniel's body had been a mess of impulses and random chemical reactions going off; brutally annoying).

I went to 'Orientation Area' on somewhat awkward legs, excited to see what was in store.


End file.
